The Photo
by Hydra-Star
Summary: There is a photo, lying in a house long destroyed. At first sight, this photo looks like any other, but if one would look closer, one might see that this photo is more than it appears to be...


The house has been empty since a horrible, powerful, wizard destroyed it's owners, leaving only their young son behind. The house has been destroyed since that time. However, if one were to dig deep enough, they would find the only remaining item, a small photo. This is in surprisingly good condition. There are no rips or bends. Perhaps the most surprisingly thing about this photo if someone would look at it would be the lack of dust. Everything else in the piles of rubble if destroyed, and the remnants are covered in dust and dirt. However, this photo lacks both of these. Never the less, this photo was in the house on the day of this wizards attack.  
  
When one looks closer at this strange photo, one can see nine young wizards, probably in their first year of Hogwarts, in it, all smiling and waving happily at whoever would look at this photo. The first one that catches ones eye is a handsome young man. He has wild black hair that he makes no attempt to make neater. If anything, he tries to make it messier by running his hand through it constantly. The boy has hazel eyes and a cocky smile on his full lips. He is obviously in Gryffindor as his robes have the house's crest on them. His eyebrows are arched and he is looking sideways at another member of the photo. However, it is not this girl that he is looking at that ones eyes would be drawn to next is one stumbled upon this photo.  
  
Next to the boy is another boy. This one also has black hair that is much neater than the first one's, although by no means would it be considered neat. The hair falls into his dark eyes with a casual sort of elegance. He is leaning on the first boy, who is obviously his friend, casually and grinning. He also seems to be in Gryffindor.  
  
Just in front of these two boys who are so obviously trouble makers, is a boy who looks a bit more like he would obey the rules. This boy has light blond hair. He looks rather pale and peaky, but otherwise quite healthy. He also has a sort of matureness around him that one wouldn't expect of a child of his age. He looks as if he is in Ravenclaw as his robes have the symbol of the raven in it's crest. His thin lips are only curves slightly into a small smile, not a full out grin like the other two boys, but one can tell that he is truly happy to be around the people that he is with. It does not take a trained eye to see such a thing.  
  
Next to the light haired boy is another boy. However, while this one does not look like a trouble maker, he also does not look like a studious boy either. He was a bit fat, and definitely looked mousey. He is small, dwarfed next to the other three boys who are all tall, although he is wider than them. He seems to be very nervous and twitches a lot. He also has a bad habit of chewing his nails and does so often. Every so often he scuffs his foot against the floor. It seems that this is another bad habit. His hair didn't really seem to have a definite color, but was very light and thin. His eyes are small and watery. They dart everywhere, almost as if he is always looking for an escape just in case something happens. He is in Slytherin, but he looks as if he was placed in the wrong house as most Slytherins are big and sneaky and he looks nothing of the sort.  
  
If one would look back at the first boy, one would see once again that he is looking at a girl. This girl has fiery red hair that is pulled up into a ponytail. Her soft, full lips are smiling softly and her emerald eyes are soft. Although at this moment she looks as if she might just be one of the kindest girls one might ever see, there is something about her that tells you that if you get in her way, you will receive a sharp tongue lashing like one that you have never had before. Indeed, it seems that she is as fiery as her hair. In this girls eyes one might see a sharp mind and intellect. In her arms is a thick book, but she is not reading it. If you look closer at the book, you can see that it is a muggle book as the picture on the cover is not moving, but you cannot see what book it is. Her robes show that she is in Gryffindor, but one probably would have guessed that anyway.  
  
Next to the redhead is another girl. This one has brown, incredibly curly hair that she is wearing down so that one can see that it goes all the way down to her waist. Her eyes are also brown. Her bottom lip is fuller than the other so that whenever she is not smiling she looks as if she is scowling, but in this photo she is smiling and you can barely tell. She looks a bit hyper as she is bouncing up and down a bit as she waves. Her robes have the badger of a nobel Hufflepuff. She seems to be the friend of the redhead.  
  
Another witch stands next on the other side of the redhead, and also seems to be her friend. She is Oriental and, like all Orientals, has strait black hair that goes just a little ways past her shoulder. Her eyes are such a dark brown that they look black and are framed by long, thick eyelashes. Her front teeth are a bit crooked, but her smile is true and beautiful. Her robes say that she is in Ravenclaw.  
  
There is a plump witch next to the Oriental one. She is in Griffindor, but she looks as if she should be in Hufflepuff. She has braces and small, round glasses. Her face is also round. Her hair is short and dirty blond and she has watery blue eyes. She is holding the hand of a young wizard, but they seem to only be friends.  
  
The wizard also has a very round face. His hair is strawberry red and his eyes are brown. If someone looking at this photo were to look closely, they would be able to see Frank Longbottom embroidered on his handmade T-shirt. He is in Griffindor, but once again it looks as if he should be in Hufflepuff. Still, he looks as if he has some qualities of a Griffindor and one can tell that he is a talented wizard by his confident expression.  
  
  
Now, if one were to watch this photo for a while, one would see something about it that is even stranger than the lack of damage or dust. The nine young witches and wizards are slowly growing older. Soon, they look as if they are second years. It is then, that the first big change takes place.  
  
There is another thing that had changed. The mature, light haired Ravenclaw boy and the three wizards closest to him (the small mousy Slytherin and the two handsome Griffindors) seem to get closer. Up until this point, the Ravenclaw was close to them, but he always kept a small amount of distance from them. His friends have just learned his secret, that he is a werwolf, and while he feared that they would hate him, they accept him. However, if one were to look closely, one would be able to see fear in the mousy Slytherins eyes whenever he glanced towards the light haired boy.  
  
Soon, it is the young witches and wizard's third year at Hogwarts. Now is when the first truly horrible thing happens, although it will not be the last. The beautiful Oriental Ravenclaw suddenly looks sadder. The sadness that fills her eyes is one of the worst kind; anger, frustration, sadness and, above all, incomprehension and self hatred. It is sadness of the worst kind, one that only those who have had the worst happen to them can describe. The young witches entire family has been killed by the same horrible wizard that destroyed the owners of the house that this photo is in, and she has just been notified. Her friends, the redhead, the girl with the brown, curly hair and the round faced girl, crowd around her, trying to comfort her, but nothing that they can do seems to help. As the year goes on, she seems to become happier, but the great sadness in her eyes still remains. It shall never leave them.  
  
The people in this strange photo grow older, and soon they look to be in their fourth year of Hogwarts. At this time, the boy with Frank Longbottom on his shirt and the round faced girl next to him become closer quite suddenly. The two of them have confessed to each other that they love each other. It is quite clear just by looking at them that their love for each other is true.  
  
In a few minutes, the nine witches and wizards look to be in their fifth year. The redhead Griffindor girl and the handsome black haired Griffindor with the messy hair have been glaring at each other for a while, although it is clear that the boy has feelings for the girl, but now they seem to be even madder at each other. It looks as if they had a huge fight, one that was much bigger than any one that they had ever had in the past. However, although they are glaring at each other, they both seem sorry and just to proud to admit it, especially the boy. This argument seems to go on for the entire year until, near the end, they go back to their normal occasional glares with the boy looking longingly her way. They strange thing is, now the girl is occasionally looking the boy's way in that same way.  
  
Now the witches and wizards seem to be in their sixth year. For about half that year, nothing really happens. Then, suddenly, the Hufflepuff with the long, brown, curly hair and the brown eyes fades from the photo. Her life has been snuffed out like a candle as well as the lives of her parents and three and a half year old younger sister during Christmas break; killed by the same dark wizard who killed the Oriental girls family. The other people in the picture seem devastated, especially the round-faced girl, the redhead girl, and the Oriental girl. The Oriental girl seems to take it the hardest for not only has she lost her family to this wizard, but now she has also lost this girl who seems to have been her best friend. At this point, the black haired Griffindor boy who seems to be the friend of the boy that is interested in the redhead seems to begin to take an intreats in the Oriental girl. He seems to comfort her in her grief and the two of them seem to become friends.  
  
It now seems that they are in their seventh year. The redhead and the black haired handsome Griffindor suddenly stop glaring at each other and instead become close. They, like the round faced girl and the boy with Frank Longbottom on his shirt before them, have confessed to each other that they love each other. The others in the photo laugh and tease them, but the two of them seem happy together and to them that's all that matters.  
  
The witches and wizards pass into adult hood. They still retain their friendships, even after they are out of school. For a while, it seems that everything shall finally be happy for them and they shall go through no more hardships. The redhead and her boyfriend get married after a few years. The Oriental girl and the black haired boy begin to go out. And the round faced boy and the boy with Frank Longbottom on his shirt also get married. The werwolf's clothes grow shabby, as he has trouble finding a job, but his friends keep him on his feet and help him when he is in need of it.  
  
However, the horrors have not stopped. Only a few years after the redhead and her husband's marriage, the small mousy boy begins to serve the dark lord who has caused so much fear and doubt. He does not tell the others, but instead hides among them and spies on them. They suspect someone, but they do not know who to suspect.  
  
The black haired boy proposes to the Oriental girl. They seem very happy. However, only a few days before their wedding, the girl's body disappears from the picture as if it were a candle that was snuffed out. The girl has been killed by the dark lord after her secrets are given up to the dark lord by his spy. She and the boy were attacked together, but the boy survived. It took seven Death Eaters, for that is what the dark lord calls his followers, to kill her and all of them have died before they can kill the boy. She died protecting her lover and has been sent to where her family is waiting for her.  
  
The others are, once again, devastated, especially the black haired boy. He loses his job because he cannot get over his grief. He lives with the redhead and her husband. Finally, his friends are able to get him back on his feet and he returns to normal. Or at least as normal as one can be after going through such a hardship.  
  
It is not long before another change comes about. The boy with Frank Longbottom on his shirt and his wife are tortured until by these Death Eaters until they go insane. It is a fate worse than death. Their small son is left in the hands of his grandmother. They slowly fade from the picture, not quickly like the ones who have died.  
  
Now, there are only five people left. They are the two handsome black haired boy, the redhead, the spy, and the werwolf. It is the redhead and her husband who are the next to go. The go out quickly, for they have died. They went into hiding after finding that the dark lord was after them, however they left the secret of their whereabouts with the spy, and he told the dark lord. The dark lord came to their house and killed them personally. However, he also met his downfall there, in the form of their small son.  
  
Their friend, the black haired man, is accused and sent to the wizard prison, Azkaban. There, he becomes unrecognizable. The spy fades from the picture, not dead, but pretending to be. He is no longer a friend, but an enemy, even if the wear wolf doesn't know it. Only the black haired man knows, and he is in Azkaban.  
  
It takes years for the black haired man to escape the prison. Some believe his story, for it is the truth, including the werwolf, and they take him in so that he can hide from the people looking for him. He becomes happy, once again.  
  
Two years, the black haired man disappears from the picture, his life flickering and going out. He, too, has been killed by the dark lord, who has come back once again to begin his reign a new. He has died saving the son of the redhead and other black haired man and his friends, including the son of the man with Frank Longbottom on his shirt and his round faced wife.  
  
Now, the only person left in the picture is the werwolf. He looks alone and sad. He wanders around the picture. He no longer smiles and waves. What reason is there to do so when so much evil has happened? What good is it to smile when there is no more hope? But there is one small light of hope. The redhead and black haired man's son. He defeated the dark lord once, although no body knows how. Perhaps he can defeat him again. The remaining man in the photo knows that he shall fight until that day comes, or he dies like so many of his friends...  
  
  


~*~  


  
I've never written anything like this before. It's a completely new style. Oh well. It still sucks.  
  
  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own HP. There? Ya' happy? I said it! No suing, ya' hear me?!


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